- 5
- 10.04.2023 08:00:00
- 2 min read
The Iraqi government demanded an apology from Turkey in connection with the shooting of a civilian airport in Sulaymaniyah. This was reported by RIA Novosti, relying on the Office of the president of the country.
According to Sulaymaniyah Civil Aviation, an explosion occurred near the International Airport on April 7, resulting in a fire that was extinguished. No casualties or injuries were recorded as a result of the incident. According to a source on Al-Hadas, the explosion was caused by a blow from the drone of the Turkish Armed Forces.
Mazlum Abdi, commander of the Kurdish “Democratic Syrian forces”, may have been on the airport grounds at the time of the explosion. The Iraqi president said the attack took place near the Sulaymaniyah airport, calling it a “devastating aggression” against his sovereignty.
"Turkish military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan are being repeated, the last being the bombing of the Sulaymaniyah civil airport. We sharply condemn these terrible attacks on Iraq and its sovereignty, there is no legal basis for Turkey to continue terrorizing civilians under the pretext that there are opposing forces on Iraqi soil,” the Office of the president of Iraq said in a statement.
The Iraqi leadership called on the Turkish government to “take responsibility, officially apologize for these actions, stop attacks and solve internal problems by opening communication channels with the relevant parties.”
It also stated that Iraq would take a firm position to prevent them in the event of a repeat of the attack. Mohsen al-Mandalawi, the First Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament, ordered the formation of an investigative committee on the attack on Sulaymaniyah airport on 8 April. He said that on the basis of this, a measure will be taken” to preserve sovereignty and protect the life of the people from any attack."
The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that the country's officials had closed airspace for aircraft flying from or coming from Sulaymaniyah, Iraq due to the increased activity of the Kurdistan Workers ' Party in Sulaymaniyah.
Turkish Airlines has now confirmed that there are no flights to Sulaymaniyah. At the same time, he allegedly denied reports that the company's website had been subjected to a hacking attack from Iraq after Sulaymaniyah airport was hit by gunfire.
